BRANDON, Fla. — This wasn’t exactly a Super Soaker fight on a hot summer day. It was two pro hockey players spraying water out of a bottle with a scrum in between.

But it was all deemed unsportsmanlike by the NHL, which fined Rangers center Kevin Hayes and Lightning forwards Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn $5,000 each on Friday after their antics early in the third period Thursday night. No unsportsmanlike penalties were called at the time.

It began with some jawing back and forth and Hayes spraying water in the direction of Killorn at 3:01 of the third as play was set to resume after a video review with a faceoff near the Ranger bench. Killorn took exception and poked his stick over the boards and into the Rangers’ bench area, which prompted J.T. Miller to hit Killorn before a fracas broke out.

“The ice was pretty dry,” Hayes deadpanned Friday after the Rangers’ practiced at the Ice Sports Forum ahead of their Saturday game against the Panthers.

That included Steven Kampfer’s second fight of the night, this against J.T. Brown. Killorn was also assessed a slashing penalty, giving the Rangers a power play. That infuriated Stamkos, who was pleading his case with a referee on his way back to the bench. Stamkos then squirted water toward the Ranger bench out of frustration.

“Boys will be boys,” Alain Vigneault said after the game.

Perhaps for the Lightning it was frustration boiling over while their firepower was subdued by the Rangers. Stamkos leads the league with 24 points but didn’t register a point Thursday for just the second time this season.

Kevin Hayes started a scrum during Thursday's game in Tampa when he squirted water from Rangers bench.

(Chris O'Meara/AP)

The Rangers know full well they need to pile up a bunch of wins quickly, knew Tampa Bay had been the best team in the NHL, and they put their foot down.

“This was a good wakeup call, measuring stick,” Ryan McDonagh said. “We knew we had to play really sharp defensively. It doesn’t matter who our opponent is going forward. We’re gonna use this as an example for us to keep building.”

Bad decisions and disorganization had been leading to poor start after poor start and a constant need to come from behind. Thursday the Rangers looked like a different team. “I just think we played smarter,” McDonagh said. “We really just tried not to overextend ourselves.”

Kampfer was given a maintenance day Friday after he, as Vigneault put it, “gooned it up” against the Lightning. Vigneault expects to play the same six defensemen, with Brendan Smith remaining a scratch.

It’s possible center David Desharnais, who played just 1:15 in the third period and sat the final 14:56 plus overtime, will be scratched for Paul Carey, who worked in Desharnais’ spot during practice. Carey last played on Oct. 13.

Regardless of who’s in, the Rangers are well aware that their important victory on Thursday will only mean something if they ascend and make up for their wretched start to the season. “We need to follow it up,” Vigneault said.